Thomas Vinterberg is back with the help of the SFI

We all love Thomas Vinterberg. Not only did he have international success with the incredible The Hunt, but he is also one of the founding fathers of the Dogme95 movement, which no doubt changed the scope of Danish film since it begun in 1995. We here at Cinema Scandinavia are a big fan of Vinterberg’s, and the latest press release from the SFI got us all excited when we read it.

The Swedish Film Institute have released the latest round of funding, and there are a lot of films to get excited about. Vinterberg’s new film, Kollektivet, (English title TBA, but at the moment translates to ‘Collective’) once again focuses on Danish family culture (a big topic in issue eight of our magazine). But wait, there’s more:

Director Folke Rydén is back with the documentary Överlevarna – det tionde året. It is ten years since the tsunami disaster in Khao Lak, Thailand. It is a collective trauma for Sweden, as the destination was tremendously popular with Swedish tourists, and a personal grieving process for the many people affected. Even so this is not a bleak film, but one that depicts deep friendship, love and the good side of life.

In addition, several short films were awarded production funding in January. In the Shadow of the Tree is an animated film by Daniel Pernbo, about an old man annoyed by the big creaking tree outside his cabin, and what happens when he decides to take care of the problem. Kropparnas arkiv (English title TBA) byChristina Olofson is a documentary which looks at human beings and animals from the same biological perspective, and tries to answer two tough questions: “Who’s looking at whom?” and “What drives humankind?”.

Mid-length film I Remember When I Die by Maria Bäck, a part of Moving Sweden, is a film about people’s relationship with the moment of death, the created eternity and the fear of being forgotten. Moving Sweden a project for promoting new and exciting films of different lengths (30, 45 or 60 minutes).

The children’s film Aldrig mere jul (English title TBA) by Jacob Bak Ley also deals with unconventional Danish family constellations, focusing on orphan Julius, who hides his passion for Christmas and everything to do with it. In The Lion Woman (Løvekvinnen), based on the novel of the same name by Erik Fosnes Hansen, Norwegian filmmaker Vibeke Idsøe looks at alienation and body hair.

Maj Wechselmann receives funding for her study of the xenophobic parliamentary party Sweden Democrats in O, Sverige blekgula moder! (English title TBA). The eight short films receiving funding in December include motor-circus dreams in Andrea Kåberg and Catharina Kåberg’s documentaryDödsryttaren (English title TBA), reluctantly modelling wild animals in Hur man illustrerar en grävling (English title TBA) by Maya Westlund and Anna Erlandsson, and Egyptian resistance in Nadas revolution (English title TBA) byClaudia Lisboa.